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Our research group has been dealing with testing, studying and developing fuel cells since 2006. During the past few years, we have equipped our laboratory with the necessary instruments, which allow us to study current sources – either prepared for our research purposes, or to order – at an international level.

From the several types of fuel cells we primarily deal with polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells with hydrogen fuel, however, we have experience in methanol / ethanol cells as well. The developments necessitate the professional implementation of measurements. From the several methods applied in electrochemistry we have to select the most appropriate ones to be able to find the optimal characteristics of the cells and the catalysts. The applied catalyst has a key role in the operation of the cells. Therefore, in addition to construction plans, the greatest efforts are made to improve the quality of the applied catalyst.

Life in the laboratory

Today Pt/C catalysts (where platinum is embedded in carbon powder) are most widespread. Efforts have been made to apply other metals, however, the related studies are in the phase of basic research. So, our aim is to investigate platinum catalysts produced by different technologies based on the methods of cyclic voltammetry (CV), chronoamperometry (CA) and chronopotencio/coulometry (CP) electrochemistry combined with quartz crystal nano-scales.

Our tool is a VSP potentiostat /galvanostat distributed by Biologic. The device automatically sets the appropriate current interval between 1 nA and 400 mA. Its potential range of 20 V and its modular construction make it applicable for testing not only fuel cells, but also batteries and accumulators. In addition to different voltammetric techniques (cyclic, chronoampero- and potentiometric) it can be used for corrosion studies and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. It can be connected to a computer with an Ethernet 10/100 based or USB2 type plug. The instrument in our laboratory has five units, one of which is a low-current module, which is able to measure even 100 fA. It can measure impedance in the range 10 mHz - 1 MHz. It can be operated by EC-Lab Express and EC-Lab software, compatible with the following Windows-based systems: NT, 2000, XP and Vista. The device is supplied with a high-current booster with a measurement range of 20 A, which allows studying the behaviour of several cells connected in series.

Adding catalyst powder to the membrane electrode assembly (MEA) is an art. Several technologies exist, from which we apply different methods for adding the catalyst in pulverized liquid form. A possible tool for the electrochemical analysis of the catalyst is rotating disc electrode. For this purpose we use the product of BAS, whose rev can be changed between 0 és 10000 min-1. Due to the gas inlet and the tightly closable cell design arbitrary atmosphere can be created for the measurements. By changing the rev, the thickness of the diffusion layer in the vicinity of the electrode and the flowing conditions can be regulated. In this manner the differences caused by the uneven layer thickness can be eliminated during successive analyses of the catalyst. Attached to the instrument are a few metal cages that filter out electronic and outer noises, in which measurements on micro-electrodes can be made easily.

Fuel cell analysing system

MEAs are prepared by using the catalysts examined in the above way. During the preparation the different layers (the polymer electrolyte membrane, the catalyst layers and the gas diffusion layer) are hot pressed. The ready MEA is placed into the measuring device.

The following tests can be performed by the instrument. By constant current it measures the cell voltage and cell resistance. From the values of the current and potential it computes the power of the cell, which we give per unit surface. We can also perform impedance measurements, the results of which allow us to draw conclusions about the interrelations of the different cell processes, and the course and properties of the reactions.